suspected kidney stones: need advice

Oh dear I feel for her/you.

There is no really correct answer to this I think.  Most "active" kidney stones cause more frequent troubles - passing blood etc - I think and if they start moving excruciating pain.  The fact that you have had an ultrasound which was basically negative should be reassuring. 

I would suspect that the blood came from something else then in the urinary tract.

The danger really is that despite it only being 5 days in the USA medical costs are extremely high if anything goes wrong.

Can you actually afford the risk?   When you booked the holiday did you not take out insurance then?  If you had you would probably have been at least covered for cancellation.  Will the insurance cover everything but kidneys?   If so it may be worth the risk but even so take the greatest care ...

thanks for the reply, yes insurance will cover everything but kidneys

That's a difficult one . I had to fly back from Portugal six weeks ago as I had a kidney stone blocking my urethane . I could have had the procedure to remove it done there as we had insurance , but I wanted to come home . I have another stone in my kidney which I am going for lithotripsy tomorrow . I asked if I would be able to postpone this as we are going to Spain . The problem is dehydration on the flight , so your partner would have to drink loads of water . I think I would be more reassured after a ct scan . At no time did I have an ultrasound . So maybe the c t is a more definitive answer

sorry didn't quite finish my response . If your partner had a kidney stone , they would have been in severe pain , so maybe it is something else . Hope everything works out for you 

I know I'm probably too late to chime in on this, but will anyway in case anyone is reading it in the future!

It really depends on the size of the stones and whether they are jagged or smooth! I have passed many many stones, some I have passed easily some were too large and I ended up in hospital. Traveling is a real gamble. Twice I have had a severe stone on holidays, once in Las Vegas and the second time last Friday in Spain.

If you are an old pro and know how easily your body can handle pushing out a stone yourself without intervention you might be ok. I have passed a huge amount of stones (cystine) since I was 14 so when I was setting off on holidays last week I was certain I had a stone brewing but took the gamble. On the second last day BAM sudden onset of symptoms! So I waved my husband off to the beach and over 4 hours drank about 4.5 litres of water and finally passed the stone myself.

It's a very tricky question because it really is a gamble and depends on each individual's case.

Hi

I was recently diagnosed with a small kidney stone by my consultant.

It took a lot of visits to my GP and an insistance for more than 9 months that the pain and discomfort I was feeling wasn't normal and despite a history a family history of kidney problems.

I even had to pay for an ultra-sound which was advised because to wait for it was to take 14 weeks,my US was done a few days later showing nothing,I then some 8 weeks later had my NHS scan too and again found nothing.

Despite all the discomfort my GP still said to just wait and see.

I waited and for some weeks before going back feeling like i was being a nuisance, however it was my brother who works for the NHS who said to insist on a CT/MRI which i did,i saw a consultant within 4 weeks and he shook his head when i told him i had to pay and said that was a waste of money as unless the Kidney stone was a certain size wouldn't show up on US.

He organised a CT scan and they found a Small stone in my right kidney which I will have removed in the next few months.

I asked advice about travelling abroad whilst i have this and he said if it was him he wouldn't travel abroad.

I'm in 2 minds about this advice as i've had this now for nearly a year with no real urgency shown by the medical fraternity (as per usual ),but of course consultans know best but I also have a partner who hasn't had a decent break in over a year..Delema 

I think if i had blood in my urine i would not travel as this could be other things too...

Having just went through a kidney stone ordeal, in which I had a 4mm stone in the right side and a 5mm stone on the left. Since most kidney stones are passed without pain or medical intervention, I say go on your holiday, assuming the doctor has ruled out any other medical issues and your partner is not in any discomfort. It might not be a bad idea to get a urine test done to see whether there is still any blood in the urine, just because you can't see it doesn't mean it's not present. In any event you could always ak the doctor to prescibe your partner Flomax which helps with the passing of kidney stones   

Hi I'm due to fly out to Turkey and been told by hospital that I should not fly as it is too dangerous as the pressure on flight might block my tub